Teens Living Near Medical Marijuana Shops Consume Less, MN Schools' Unique Plan, Nevada's Consumption Lounges

California Regulators Invest $4 Million In Licensing Marijuana Businesses

On Tuesday, California cannabis regulators declared that $4.1 million in funding would be allocated to local cities and counties to help facilitate the licensing of cannabis businesses. The move is expected to address consumer needs and restrain the black market, reported Marijuana Moment.

The Department of Cannabis Control's (DCC) Local Jurisdiction Retail Access Grant program was initially announced in February. Now, 18 jurisdictions were granted a part of the $20 million pledged to localities.

"The Local Jurisdictional Retail Access Grant program will help provide access to regulated cannabis retail for over 2 million Californians that currently live in an area where access to licensed cannabis retail businesses is insufficient," Rasha Salama, DCC Acting Director, said in a press release.

Study Shows Teens Living Near Medical Marijuana Shops Use Less Cannabis

Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found that teenagers living in ZIP codes with medical marijuana dispensaries had lower rates of cannabis use than those living in areas without.

The survey, which included data collected in 2018, showed that 18.3% of those living near dispensaries said they'd used cannabis over the past 12 months compared with 22.4% of those who lived in ZIP codes without them.

More than 10,560 young people who took part in the 2018 Illinois Youth Survey, conducted by the Center for Prevention Research and Development at the University of Illinois, were encompassed in the sample.

"The good news is that it looks like in Illinois, there was no immediate impact on adolescent substance use rates after medical dispensaries came on," Doug Smith, the center's director said. "In fact, we found that across the whole sample, those who lived in a ZIP code with a dispensary were less likely to have used cannabis during the past 30 days or one year."

Cannabis Lounges In Nevada Get Thumbs Up From Compliance Board

Nevada's cannabis regulator gave the green light to the first conditional licenses for cannabis consumption lounges this week, reported KSNV.

The first three entities to be granted conditional licenses for cannabis consumption lounges by the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) are:

• MM Development Company dba Planet 13 Holdings Inc. PLTH PLNHF in unincorporated Clark County
• The Venue at Sol Cannabis in Washoe County
• Cheyenne Medical Sammy Davis dba Thrive Cannabis Marketplace in unincorporated Clark County

In December, the CCB issued the first 40 prospective cannabis consumption lounge licensees by using random number selector software. Twenty were reserved for social equity applicants, while the remaining 20 went to existing marijuana retailers.

Minnesota's New Cannabis Law Inspires Change In This School District

Officials in the Winona Area Public Schools intend to adopt a policy of treating marijuana offenses among underage students like they do for crimes involving alcohol, reported La Crosse Tribune.

As of August 1, possessing two pounds of cannabis at home or two ounces of cannabis outside will no longer be considered a crime, so school officials are taking action before the autumn school year begins.

Annette Freiheit, superintendent of Winona school district said the school board took into account the recent decriminalization of marijuana use among adults in Minnesota.

"We would probably have a parent come and pick them up and confiscate whatever they had brought to school," Freiheit said. "If this is a repeat offender, then we would also consider if there is any testing for addiction — determine if this is a bigger problem and need to work with the parents."

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